Encyclopedia of Women in World Religions

Susan de-Gaia, PhD, is lecturer in religious studies at Central Michigan University, Global Campus. Her work focuses on gender and feminist studies, religion, and popular culture.

Alphabetical List of Entries
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Timeline: Periodization and Developments in Religion
Volume 1: African Religions to Indigenous Religions
African Religions
Introduction
African Religions-in-Diaspora
Art in Africa
Body Art
Candomblé
Female Genital Mutilation
Life-Cycle Ceremonies
Priestesses and Oracular Women
Rastafari
Yoruba Religion
Ancient Religions
Introduction
Athena
Delphic Oracle
Diana
Egyptian Religion
Eleusinian Mysteries
Gaia
Gorgon Medusa
Greek and Roman Women, Daily Lives of
Homosexuality
Hypatia (ca. 351–ca. 415 CE)
Inanna
Marriage, Ancient Greek and Roman Religions
Mesopotamian Religion
Nin?ursaga Mother Goddess
Ninlil
Pre-Greek Goddesses in the Greek Pantheon
Priestesses and Their Staff in Ancient Greece
Religious Leadership, Ancient Roman Religions
Sappho (ca. 630–ca. 570 BCE)
Shamans in East Asia
Sibyls
Sun Goddess
Writers and Poets, Ancient Mesopotamia
Baha'i
Introduction
Divine Feminine
Education
Gender Roles
Tahirih
Women in Baha'i Scriptures
Buddhism
Introduction
Abortion
Bodhisattvas
Buddhism in the United States
Dance
Dance of Tara
Engaged Buddhism
Female Divinities
Feminine Virtues
Funeral Practices
Gender Roles
Guan Yin
Laywomen in Theravada Buddhism
Mahayana
Nuns, Theravada
Ordination
Pajapati
Prajnaparamita
Sacred Texts on Women
Soka Gakkai
Tantra
Tara
Tea Ceremony
Therigatha
Women in Early Buddhism
Women's Buddhist Networks
Zen
Christianity
Introduction
Abbesses
Abortion
African American Women
Anglican/Episcopalian Women Religious
Apocrypha
Art, Modern and Contemporary
Charity
Chastity
Christianity in Africa
Christianity in Europe
Christianity in Latin America
Christianity in the United States
Christine de Pizan (ca. 1364–ca. 1430)
Clothing
Education
"The Fall"
Founders of Christian Denominations
Fundamentalism
Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179)
Homosexuality in Early to Early Modern Christianity
Interfaith Dialogue Post 9/11, Christian and Muslim Women
Julian of Norwich (ca. 1342–ca. 1416)
Marriage, Divorce, and Widowhood
Mary Magdalene (ca. first century CE)
Middle Ages
Ministers
Missionaries
Monastic Life
Monasticism, Contemporary Women
Monasticism, Medieval Women
Mormonism
Mother of God
Mystics
Orthodox Christianity
Pilgrimage
Polygamy
Protestant Denominations
Relationship and Social Models in Scripture, Archaeology, and History
Roman Catholic Women Religious
Saints
Sex and Gender
Sophia
Stigmatics
Widowhood
Women in Early Christianity (to 300 CE)
Women in the Reformation
Women Writers in Early and Medieval Christianity
Confucianism
Introduction
Books for Women
Classical Confucianism
Confucian Revivalism
Cult of Female Chastity
Feminine Virtues
Filial Piety
Motherhood
Women's Changing Roles
Daoism
Introduction
Daoism in China
Goddesses
Healers
Priestesses, Nuns, and Ordination
Wu Wei and the Feminine
Hinduism
Introduction
Aditi
Bhakti
Caste
Dance
Devadasis
Devi
Draupadi
Durga and Kali
Festivals
Fundamentalism
Gurus and Saints
Household Shrines
Ideals of Womanhood
Lakshmi
Marriage
Matriliny
Pilgrimage
Prakriti
Radha and Gopi Girls
Renunciation
Sacred Texts on Women
Saraswati
Sati
Shakti
Stage-of-Life Rituals
Tantra
Vedic Hinduism
Yoginis
General Bibliography
About the Editor and Contributors
Index
Volume 2: Indigenous Religions to Spirituality
Indigenous Religions
Introduction
Activism (Native American)
Ancestors (Native American)
Arts (Native American)
Ceremonies (Native American)
Clothing (Native American)
Creation Stories (Native American)
Kinship (Native American)
Marriage and Social Status (Native American)
Matriarchies
Medicine Women (Native American)
Nature (Native American)
Sacred Place (Native American)
Sacred Spirits (Native American)
Shamanism in Eurasian Cultures
Shamans in Korea
Women Warriors (Native American)
Islam
Introduction
Coverings
Diaspora
Druze Religion
Education
Fatima (605/615–632 CE)
Female Genital Mutilation
Feminism
Hagar
Hawwa
Honor
Ideal Woman
Islam in Africa
Islam in Europe
Islam in the Middle East
Islam in the United States
Marriage and Divorce
Maryam
Peacemaking
Pilgrimage
Polygamy
Prophet's Wives
Purdah
Qur'an and Hadith
Reform
Saints, Sufi
Shari'a
Sufism
Women's Organizations
Jainism
Introduction
Female Deities
Jina
Laywomen
Monastics and Nuns
Ritual
Judaism
Introduction
American Denominations: 1850 to Present
Ancient Judaism
Art
Bat Mitzvah
Education
Feminist and Women's Movements
Festivals and Holy Days
Food
Goddesses
Hasidism
Hebrew Bible
Holocaust
Israel
Judaism in Europe
Judaism in the United States
Kabbalah
Lilith
Marriage and Divorce
Midrash
Mitzvah
Modern and Contemporary Judaism
Peacemaking
Performance
Priestesses
Rabbis
Rosh Hodesh
Salome Alexandra (d. 67 BCE)
Sephardic and Mizrahi Judaisms
Sex and Gender
Shabbat (Sabbath)
Synagogue
Women and Work
Paganism
Introduction
Druidry
Eco-Paganism
Heathenry
Magic
Paganism
Priestesses and Elders
Reconstructionist Paganism
Ritual
Seasonal Festivals
Wicca
Prehistoric Religions
Introduction
Burials
Crete, Religion and Culture
Gimbutas, Marija (1921–1994) and the Religions of Old Europe
Guardian Spirits in Eurasian Cultures
Neolithic Female Figures
Sacred Script
Shamanism
Upper Paleolithic Female Figures
Women in Prehistoric Religious Practices
Shinto
Introduction
Amaterasu Omikami
Feminine Virtues
Filial Piety
Founders of New Religious Movements
Kami
Kinship and Marriage
Priestesses
Shamans and Ritualists
Shinto Weddings
State Shinto
Tenrikyo
Sikhism
Introduction
Art and Performance
Feminist Issues in Sikhism
Guru Period
Ritual and Festival, Women's Roles
Sikh Scriptures and Women
Spirituality
Introduction
Art and Performance
Astrology
Deep Ecology
Divination
Drumming
Ecofeminism
Goddess Spirituality
Green Funerals
Healers
Kirtan
Meditation
Pilgrimage, Goddess
Radical Women's Spirituality
Sex and Gender
Sheela na gigs
Spiritualism
Spirituality and Gender in Social Context
Syncretism
Women of Color
Yoga
General Bibliography
About the Editor and Contributors
Index